The present application relates to the field of imaging, and in particular to an inspection system configured to image an exterior aspect and an interior aspect of an object. It finds particular application with industrial applications where the inspection system is configured to image the object for defects. However, it may also relate to other applications, such as medical applications and/or security applications, where it may be desirable to generate images depicting both exterior aspects and interior aspects of an object for threat detection, medical diagnosis, and/or medical treatment, for example.
Computed tomography (CT) systems and other radiation imaging systems (e.g., single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), digital radiography, line-scan systems, etc.) are useful to provide information (e.g., images) regarding interior aspects of an object under examination. The object is exposed to radiation photons (e.g., x-ray photons, gamma ray photons, etc.) from a radiation source, and radiation photons traversing the object are detected by a detector array positioned substantially diametrically opposite the radiation source relative to the object. A degree to which the radiation photons are attenuated (e.g., absorbed, scattered, etc.) by the object, or rather by aspects of the object that intersect a beam-path of the radiation, is measured to determine information about such aspects. For example, in CT systems, the degree to which radiation photons are attenuated may be used to determine the density and/or atomic number of such aspects. Highly dense aspects of an object typically attenuate more radiation than less dense aspects, thus allowing cracks, defects, and/or other features to be identified from the collected information and/or from images generated therefrom that depict an interval view of the object.
While such systems have proven useful for identifying features of interior aspects of the object and/or for generating an internal view of the object, radiation imaging systems typically do not provide information about exterior aspects of the object, such as information about an exterior surface of the object.